Media: Residents of Southern European countries protest against tourists.

Media: Residents of Southern European
countries protest against tourists.

International news Desk

According to global times news agency Europe,Locals and activists have been hitting the streets in various cities across Spain, Italy, Portugal and Greece, some armed with water guns and stickers telling tourists to go home, The global times Europe media informs. Protestors say over-tourism drives up housing prices, accelerates gentrification and makes already-stretched water supplies more scarce. In drought-stricken urban centers like Barcelona, tourists consume considerably more water than the average resident. In parched Sicily, a number of cities have started to turn away tourists due to water scarcity.Governments, for their part, are less inclined to implement durable measures. For many EU countries, especially those in southern Europe, tourism is a key pillar of their economy: 11.3 percent for Croatia, and between 6 and 8 percent for Portugal, Greece, Spain and Italy, according to an analysis by Allianz. After the pandemic all but halted tourism for two years, people eager to travel embarked on so-called “revenge tourism” — reaping back the trips they had missed out on.In part due to tourism, Spain, Portugal, and Greece — long the laggards among Europe’s big economies — outperformed the rest of the EU in 2023. While GDP across the bloc rose at 0.5 percent, the economies of Portugal, Greece and Spain all posted rates above 2 percent.